A Ninja Legend: The Tale of Uzumaki Naruto
by Phantomhobbitses
Summary: When the ninja system was abolished one name would live on forever in history.


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Summary: When the ninja system was abolished one name would live on forever in history.

A Ninja Legend: The Tale of Uzumaki Naruto

As Hokage Uzumaki Naruto did a number of things to bring peace to the ninja world. He killed Uchiha Madara, the leader of Akatsuki and brought together an alliance of the five great ninja that no one had seen before in order to abolish the very concept of Akatsuki. And in one final meeting he made his final move as Hokage: he destroyed the ninja system throughout the world. It was an act to create peace after years of political war, and after years of being told by his mentors and fellow pupils that the "world will not know peace while the ninja system existed" that was the solution he came up with.

The final law he created, before giving up the title of Hokage and seemingly disappearing forever, was that it was forbidden to perform or speak of the ninja techniques. The idea that ninja once ruled the world was forgotten. Scrolls were burned and the academies closed down. The police force became ordinary civilians and ninja who were not allowed to use their abilities. The world continued on, as those too young to remember the ninja system started to grow they became the first generation of the new world.

Of course there were those people who couldn't give up their old life. Performing techniques or becoming criminals just to feel the thrill of it again. And with the average police officers they had now who could catch them? In these circumstances the people were treated the way the nations used to treat rogue ninja hunting them down until they were gone. When they were finally caught they would be locked up in asylums. Forever to waste away and have their muscles atrophy until there was nothing left but a shallow, empty shell.

Enemies didn't become friends but they did become acquaintances. They shared a friendly nod of recognition, acknowledgement that they shared a past, a history that was not to be remembered. Those who found it difficult to give up got together, talking in hushed whispers in bars and the privacy of their own kitchens about a life that was exhilarating even if it was dangerous. And they would wonder quietly where the last Hokage could have gone. They would smile at memories and speak of old enemies and how they saw them occasionally and how, now that ninja didn't exist anymore, the hatred that seemed to hold the nations apart seemed so trivial. They were comrades now, no matter what the situation had been in the past.

And somewhere a whispered name escaped for the first time since the Last Great Meeting of the Kages. The name Uzumaki Naruto passed through the nations like a ripple.

Wave country, once a poor nation, became quite wealthy with the number of tourists who visited. People with memories of a young boy and a big smile and others with only a name to the legend went to the country and stood upon the Great Naruto Bridge and smiled and nodded their heads and talked to each other in low voices about this being the place where a great man's (for they could not say ninja) legend began.

And the story of his life just seemed to appear again after years of hushed whispers. It seemed people came to the conclusion all at one time to tell the tale of the greatest ninja who ever lived. As the name grew it became common to tell the story of Uzumaki Naruto's life.

Ex-ninja told their children all they knew of Uzumaki Naruto because every former ninja knew his name and knew his tale. It became normal to see children from all over running in the streets declaring themselves a ninja from the legend. They would yell that they were Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto's best friend who went rogue, or Haruno Sakura a fierce and impossibly strong Kunoichi who became the greatest healer in the world. And as they got older the children would ask their parents if it was true. Were there really ninja once? Was this world real? Their parents would just give a sad smile and say, no, it wasn't true but that didn't stop it from being a great story created by a great man. But so many wanted the story to be true because it seemed so real and the characters were so well done it was easy to believe they once existed.

And as the story grew and grew an anonymous author published the first book out of the series entitled _A Ninja Legend: The Tale of Uzumaki Naruto_. It wasn't hard for the ex-ninja to figure out who White Fang was. Possibly the best source for the story, the whole story, was Naruto's old teacher Hatake Kakashi.

The novels were bestsellers, ninja and civilians alike bought the books because even civilians who grew up in the time of ninja knew the story. And they never seemed to get old. When the children got older, if asked what their favorite childhood story was, most would say The Tale of Uzumaki Naruto and they would tell their children the story and smile as they ran in the streets, as they had once done, shouting, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to be greater than the Hokage!"

And somewhere in a small village in an anonymous country the door to a ramen shop jingled to announce a customer. And the man behind the counter smiled a large smile and greeted the customer.

"Welcome," he said as he cleaned a bowl, tacking onto the end of his word "dattebyo."

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Well there we go. You know stories always seem better in my head when I'm writing the words out exactly how I want them to be said but I don't have anything to write it down with. Then when I actually do start typing it up I'm not always satisfied cause it's not how I had it written out in my head.

Oh well, I think I'm pretty happy with this one anyway. Thought it would be longer in my head though.


End file.
